‘HTGAWM’s Marsha Stephanie Blake on Vivian’s Relationships With Gabriel & Annalise

Meredith Jacobs October 3, 2019, 10:30 am

Gabriel’s (Rome Flynn) mother Vivian (Marsha Stephanie Blake) is officially here to stir up some trouble on How to Get Away With Murder for its final season.

We only briefly saw her in the Season 6 premiere, sitting outside her son’s apartment and lying about her whereabouts. “She had checked up on him enough to find out that he had been lying to her, so she’s a mom who pays attention,” Blake tells TV Insider. “It took her a little while because she was busy with her own stuff. He’s her only child and she takes that responsibility very seriously and as soon as she found out things weren’t as he was telling her, she was like, ‘Let me go see what’s really going on.'”

And now that she has, “she’s not a mom you want to mess with,” the actress continues. And just like everyone else on the show, she has her secrets. What’s in that box in her closet? Who texted her that Annalise (Viola Davis) was back? According to Blake, even she doesn’t know those answers just yet.

What she does know is that her character doesn’t think she’s done anything wrong keeping details of her past from Gabriel. “It is a problem that their relationship isn’t as honest and truthful as it should be,” she acknowledges, but “you keep things from your kids when you think you’re protecting them.”

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Be prepared to see more of Vivian in Episode 2, “Vivian’s Here,” including a confrontation with Annalise. Moving forward, “you will see what happens when Gabriel has to actually have a conversation with his mom about what’s going on,” Blake previews. “We know that Annalise and Vivian have a past, so that will be discussed in one way or another, and it will come to the forefront.” And because of that past — Vivian is Sam’s ex — “she’s not happy” about Annalise being part of her son’s life, even though it may be what’s best for his career in law.

That will likely extend to those in Annalise’s orbit, including Michaela (Aja Naomi King). “Her relationship with Annalise is so tainted by the past that anything that has to do with Annalise is not great,” Blake says.

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Fans can definitely expect to see more from Vivian moving forward. How worried should everyone be about what she could be up to? We’ll have to wait to find out. Until then, check out TV Insider’s exclusive look at the new cast photo for the final season: